He's been called “probably the most uncompromising musician in Canadian musical history” by Robert Aitken, director of New Music Concerts. Udo Kasemets’ compositions have made an indelible and enduring contribution to the Canadian modernist and postmodernist music landscape. Through his concert activism he also introduced the music of the American and European avant garde to the Toronto public.

In fact, Kasemets’ career encompasses the story of the avant garde of the second half of the 20th century in our town. It is fitting that now in his 90th year, New Music Concerts is celebrating that contribution.

The “Decade With No Name” (the “Aughties” never quite caught on) has now ended. And while there was no audible bang or whimper at its close, for classical music fans in Toronto, the decade will be remembered as eventful. Not only was there an abundance of musical performances of all kinds, there were also fundamental shifts in the cultural landscape. Some of these changes were beneficial; others weren’t – but they’ll all have a long-term impact on classical music in this city.

Here’s my own list of the ten most consequential and era-defining events, during the first decade of the 21st century.

Well now, this looks like fun. Tafelmusik has launched a Sing-Along-Messiah video contest. They're inviting Handel enthusiasts to submit (by December 12) video clips of themselves performing Messiah excerpts. There will be prizes for Best Overall Performance, Best Group/Family, Best Soloist, and Most Creative. The best video clips will be posted online, and winners will be invited to appear on stage in Tafelmusik's Sing-Along Messiah at Massey Hall on December 20.

Personally, I think it would have been interesting to have another prize for Most Historically Inauthentic Performance – but I expect they'll get plenty would fall in that category, anyway.

According, to Ivars Taurins, director of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, the idea comes from a CBC radio contest for which he served as a judge, a few years ago. At that time, people were invited to submit their do-it-yourself Messiah audio recordings. Tafelmusik has updated this concept by adding a video component.

"We're looking for people to be creative and inspirational," he explains. "They can get the family together, sing a duet with a friend, or have the dog join in. It can be anything from a serious performance from a professional or amateur, or from a student or child, to something lighthearted."

I hope Tafelmusik's challenge results in some imaginative approaches to Handel's perennial favourite. And just so everyone who's tempted to enter the contest is well aware of how high the bar has already been set, here's a YouTube video clip of the Northwestern University Kazoo Choir's inimitable rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhlm232KRlQ

Colin Eatock, managing editor

The COC’s Diamond Anniversary Gala was an unforgettable evening of magnificent music making. Ben Heppner may have pulled out of the concert, but the real star of the show, in any case, was the COC Orchestra led for the first time by Johannes Debus as its new music director. The shell built for Robert Lepage’s The Nightingale now allows the orchestra to sound great not just in the pit but also on stage.

The concert began with a sparkling performance of Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, then alternated excepts from Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust with arias from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette sung by Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas and Canadian baritone Russell Braun. The first section concluded with Vargas’ hugely impressive account of “Nature immense” from La Damnation. Throughout the Berlioz, the orchestra’s precision of attack, its internal clarity and the lush colours of its sound repeatedly reminded me of the Montreal Symphony in its glory days under Charles Dutoit. Debus clearly enjoys conducting the orchestra and they just as clearly enjoy playing for him. The encore of “Au fond du temple saint” from The Pearl Fishers, sung by Braun and Vargas, drove the audience to a prolonged standing ovation.

After intermission, the intelligently planned programme turned from Berlioz to Wagner, with Debus highlighting the influence of the former on the latter. A wonderfully warm and joyous performance of the Prelude to Die Meistersinger was followed by Cornish Heldentenor John Treleaven’s account of Walther's Prize Song from the same opera – then Braun’s gorgeous singing of Wolfram’s aria “O du holder Abendstern” and Treleaven’s moving Rome Narration both from Tannhäuser. The three-part conclusion from Götterdämmerung was Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, Treleaven’s singing of “Brünnhilde, heilige Braut” and finally Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March. The emotion in the last excerpt was palpable, this being the first time the orchestra has played from the Ring Cycle since the death of Richard Bradshaw. It was impossible not to feel that the conflict between grief and heroism in the piece wasn't also meant to reflect the orchestra’s view of the General Director who had led it to such a height.

Vargas, a favourite at the Met, gave us a taste of the kind of Italianate, powerfully emotional singing we seldom hear from tenors at the COC. Braun, whose voice seems to grown only deeper and richer with every appearance, triumphed in the sheer beauty of Wolfram’s aria, which drew its own standing ovation. Treleaven, who sings almost exclusively in Europe, wasn't as outwardly demonstrative as Vargas or Braun. But he possesses a voice of Wagnerian magnitude, devoid of harshness and shaped by such clarity of diction as to render surtitles superfluous (not that there were any) for anyone who knows German. The final encore, though, fittingly belonged to the orchestra who played the overture to Tannhäuser with such verve and grandeur that one could only hope the work is among the COC’s future plans, along with La Damnation.

I left filled with a glow from knowing that we now have not only a great opera house and a great opera orchestra, but also a wonderfully expressive conductor who knows how to bring out the very best.

Christopher Hoile

It sounds like a paradox. The Canadian Opera Company could hardly be more successful with critics and audiences alike, yet it ended the 2008/09 season with a deficit. As COC Board President Paul Spafford made clear at the COC’s Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, the COC’s operating deficit of $1.6 million for the previous season was directly caused by a shortfall in the company’s annual fund-raising programs. No points for guessing that this was a result of the global economic crisis. Fortunately, the COC had ended the six previous years with a surplus. These surpluses furnished the funds the company was able to draw upon to overcome the deficit and end the year $25,000 in the black.

Otherwise, there was only good news. The COC’s subscription rate is among the highest in North America. This season only the Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago will stage more performances than the COC. And, best of all, the 2008-09 season played to 99.7 percent capacity.

As COC General Director Alexander Neef stated, “It has been an extremely exciting first year for me as General Director. I am very pleased and proud to lead a company that produces opera at a level as high as, or higher than, any other North American company with a much smaller budget than those of our North American peers. And, I have been particularly encouraged to see enthusiastic and full houses in the opera house for every performance. I’m glad that we can engage audiences with the breadth and depth of repertoire we produce because it bodes very well for the future of the COC and opera in Canada.”

Further good new for the company, now celebrating its 60th anniversary, is that for the first time in almost 20 years, the COC’s mainstage season will be broadcast across Canada. In conjunction with its Broadcast Partner, CBC Radio 2, each opera in the COC’s 2009/10 season will be aired twice nationally on CBC Radio 2 and Radio-Canada’s Espace Musique, and the broadcasts of COC recordings also will be available for internet streaming on both the company’s website, www.coc.ca, and on CBC Concerts on Demand, www.cbc.ca/radio2, for a period of 12 months after the initial streaming date. As the producer of these recordings, the COC will also seek additional means of extending the reach of its artistic output into new media platforms such as CDs, DVDs and cinecasts, as well as select National Public Radio stations in the United States.

Christopher Hoile